The origins of Villagers - the musical moniker espoused by songwriter Conor J. O'Brien and his sometimes musical cohorts - began with a personal saunter. "My previous band split up, and I was just sort of wandering aimlessly", explains the native Dubliner. An act of non-consequence, it seems...though funny things can happen once the mind begins mulling over the contents of the soul - the past, the present, the future . One truly never knows what they'll find hiding underneath the seafloor when they begin dredging the bottom of the heart - a dark and mystifying place indeed.

In O'Brien's case, he returned to the surface with the self reflective ingredients for a firecracker explosion of creative action, spawning eleven songs that eventually would become his brilliant (and now Mercury Prize nominated) debut, Becoming A Jackal (Domino).

In this segment of The Guest Apartment, O'Brien offers some insight into the approach of his craft. "The writing process is a very subconscious. For me, if you start to think when youre writing youve lost it. I try to keep my mind quite empty so that things suggest themselves to me." Which means it was a good thing we left our usual abode in favor of a peaceful, green garden hiding in the heart of the big, bad, and busy Lower East Side. Here, tucked away in the mostly tranquil oasis of the Creative Little Garden, it's easy to let the contents of one's mind slip away...especially as O'Brien takes a pass through three songs he felt were ideally suited for the grasses, herbs, plants, and general greenery that surrounded us. It's a "curious" look at a promising, new songwriter, and we're proud to bring it to you in this brand new segment of The Guest Apartment. - David Pitz

Artist Bio

From the very first seconds of Becoming a Jackal, hes got you. A faint drone of organ, joined by eerie strings and a cascade of piano that collectively casts a Hitchcock movie shadow before a hushed voice asks, "Have you got just a minute? / Are you easily led? / Let me show the backroom / Where I saw the dead / Dancing like children on a midsummer morn / And they asked me to join" and then the music obliges by with a similar spectral sweep. 'I Saw the Dead is not just the album intro of 2010 to date but also a magnificent intro to the vivid narratives, gripping poetry and melodic depth of Conor J. OBrien or as he likes to call himself and his cohorts, Villagers.

Over the course of 11 varied, subtle, complex and plain gorgeous songs, the Dubliner shows just why he is Dominos latest signing, while defying any easy categorisation of his influences or peers. OBrien namechecks David Axelrod, Jens Lekman, Robert Wyatt and Rufus Wainwright but you could equally add Paddy McAloon, Paul Simon and Randy Newman to the possible roots of this record. And its creator is just as captivating in person.

If the album has a theme, its change - "whether physical, emotional or and spiritual," OBrien ventures. "I guess a large part of it is concerned with growing up; gaining and losing friends... these things change a person and I suppose this is my way of making sure I dont become a bitter old mess! But I only realised this in hindsight. I dont write in a conscious way; the only thing I start with is a visual image or colour, and then it just happens. One line suggests the next, until I have a little patchwork quilt of ideas. If I stick at it long enough, it all comes together and makes narrative sense."

Growing up in Dun Laoghaire, a south-east seaside Dublin suburb, OBrien wrote his first song, aged just 12, a week after his older brother lent Conor his acoustic guitar. "Bizarrely enough, my first lyric was "When Im walking down these streets, I feel like a monkey in the Arctic". I havent told Domino that yet! The song was called 'Psychic, which was about being afraid of a psychic friend because he could read your thoughts. Yes, it was a weird one..."

Roald Dahl books, Jim Henson fantasy films (The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth) and a passion for model painting fed the teen Conors imagination, while his first band, formed with three friends from St. Conleth's College in Ballsbridge, Dublin, defined the adult version. The Immediate were loved in Ireland for their whip-smart, literate bursts of melody, and their sole album In Towers and Clouds was considered the best homegrown debut since U2s Boy back in 1980. But as the accolades escalated, the band shocked everyone by suddenly breaking up. "It felt like ending an incredible long-term relationship. Im terrified of bands now, so I do everything myself" says OBrien, who created the artwork and played all the instruments on Becoming a Jackal (except for the strings and French Horn which were arranged by Villagers pianist/organist Cormac Curran).

After choosing the name Villagers - "I like the name because it doesnt offend the songs" - OBrien released The Hollow Kind EP in February 2009 and the 7" 'On a Sunlit Stage last October on the Any Other City label, run by Villagers drummer James Byrne. After signing to Domino, Becoming a Jackal was recorded in Villagers guitarist Tommy McLaughlins home studio, with Tommy engineering and co-producing alongside Conor. "We wanted to make it sound a bit like a Neil Young album, not to dress it up too much, like someone is whispering in your ear, but also to get the epic-ness at times."

As well as playing solo shows, Villagers also play live as a full band, with Conor being joined onstage by James, Tommy, Cormac and bassist Danny Snow, as well as sometime collaborators David Crean (on keys) and Richie Egan (of the Dublin-based bands The Redneck Manifesto and Jape); "They're central to all this. When we rehearse, my little dictatorial act is over and they find their own way of playing it. The shows are one of most exciting things for me as the music morphs, so you can hear new lines coming in and things dropping out. But we only rehearse for a couple of days before a tour, so its easy. It means I can keep writing instead of being locked in a room together three days a week. Ive always preferred solitary writing, shutting your brain off from everything else."

From restrained to unleashed, from a whisper to a literal howl, Becoming a Jackal mutates, intrigues and beguiles in equal measure. After the psycho-drama of 'I Saw the Dead, the title track and first single reveals OBriens breezier pop chops and a story of hard-fought freedom ("When I grew bolder/ Out onto the streets I flew / Released from your shackles / I danced with the jackals / And learned a new way to move"). 'Ship of Promises is marked by a rubbery skiffle beat and an opaque lyric ("You see a mask from your window at night / So you wake and you go outside and you put it on") while the fragile 'The Meaning of the Ritual is much more direct. "Setting myself a task is another way of writing, and I wanted to write a love song that wasnt positive toward the idea of love. I wanted to dress it down.

'The Pact (Ill be your Fever), to give the song its full title, crosses '50s pop innocence with a dark heart. "Im told it sounds like Roy Orbison," says OBrien. "To me, its almost like an emancipatory hymn! Its almost celebrating romantic love or unadulterated worship as a way of saving you from staring into the complete nothingness of the day; into the abyss."

'That Day is equally another summery melody masking existential doubt. "Its about how some people manage to live their lives incredibly well while others only see this bleak emptiness, and trying to express that in a rollicking pop song! To me, its my glamourous Scott Walker rocknroll song - not that it sounds like him. But it feels like Im letting something out in a bold, brash way, where some of the other songs curl around you a bit more."

One of those 'curling songs would be the wistful, folky 'Twenty-Seven Strangers, a lyrical journey mirroring an everyday bus trip thats the essence of bittersweet. "On a bus, people dont communicate with each other were crippled by all this social mundanity. But we come home to a loved one, and then we do it all over again next day. I wanted to express that repetition. I like writing about things that are universal and stifling, but that we dont talk about. But rather than sounding morose, I always want to maintain a celebratory togetherness, which is the root of folk and blues."

Between 'Twenty-Seven Strangers and the closing sobriety of 'To Be Counted Among Men is the albums soul epic 'Pieces ("For a long, long time / I've been in pieces / In the corner of a room / In an endless afternoon") and a showcase for some of the best howling ever recorded. Howling, as jackals do. Or Villagers. "Howling was an incredible feeling, especially coming after those particular words. I dont want to depress people, so a touch of melodrama can really connect."

Young in face but intense around the eyes, OBrien will probably never run out of insights and incidents, so you can be sure that Villagers will be around for the long term. Which suits him just fine. "I dont want this ever to be the finished product, but to be constantly changing, moving and growing. I can hear so much more."